Under the laws of the State of California, most misdemeanors, and certain felonies, are eligible for expungement. Generally, if one is no longer on probation, he or she can petition the court to expunge a criminal conviction or convictions from your record. If you were convicted of a felony, the judge reviewing your petition can, in many cases, reduce a felony conviction to a misdemeanor; thereby allowing one the opportunity to petition the court for expungement. In the case of juvenile convictions, a petition can be filed requesting the court to seal his or her juvenile court records.

An Expungement of your criminal record results in the extraction and isolation of some of the criminal records on file with a court, correctional facility or law enforcement agency. Contrary to popular belief, your criminal record is not automatically cleared or expunged with the passage of time. Even if you were never found guilty, an arrest is not expunged unless a court finds that you were factually innocent. In order to do that, you must file either a petition to seal your arrest record or file a motion or petition for a finding of factual innocence. To be successful in such an endeavor, this process almost always requires the assistance of a competent and qualified criminal defense attorney. State statutes impose application guidelines and waiting periods for various types of arrests and convictions. The guidelines provide instruction for what can be expunged and set forth certain specific types of offenses that cannot be expunged.

It is important to note that an Expungement does not destroy or seal criminal records; it extracts and isolates the records. Under most circumstances, once an expungement has been granted, those records cannot be disclosed. A person who has been granted an expungement can oftentimes respond that he or she has no conviction when asked a question about having a criminal record. Exceptions to this rule include a person seeking a second expungement, a person seeking a conditional discharge, or a person seeking to obtain employment in law enforcement or state-licensing capacity.

At the Law Office of Barry T. Simons, our criminal defense attorneys prepare all the necessary paperwork needed to file for a criminal expungement before the court. If you are no longer on probation and would like more information about expungements, the sealing of juvenile records, or reducing a felony to a misdemeanor in order to allow you the opportunity to petition the court for expungement, contact the Law Office of Barry T. Simons immediately at: 949-497-1729; or complete our Confidential Client Contact Form on our web page.